Green Meadows Petting Farm

I've gotten a flyer about this place every year at the Preschool but never really looked into it. Since it is so close to our house I checked out their website and liked what I saw. We decided to take Sophie so she could see the animals and we could get a pumpkin. I think Paul had more fun either me or Sophie. With the smaller animals you could go into the pens, some you could feed, and the big ones you just looked at. The first thing Paul had to do was pick up a turkey. The females are much better looking than the males. The males have great tail feathers, but their faces are terrible.

Next, he had to chase the ducks.

They had a separate pen with just mommy and baby goats. They were so cute. This is a momma who was just too tired to move (I know how she feels). Notice the baby inside the feed barrel.

Then we went into the pen with the goats and sheep. These we could feed (but only outside the fence, or else you'd get run over by the animals).

We saw a longhorn and a buffalo (or maybe it was a bison).

They had cows that you could milk. Paul thought that was the best.

I didn't milk the cow, but I did let Sophie pet it. This is a momma cow, we are touching it's belly where the calf is moving inside (it looked just like it did when I was pregnant with Sophie).

They had a show where they brought out a few animals and told you about them. They also had a horse that could add and subtract. Before the show we went by and saw a pen with 6 week old piglets in it. There were squealing so loud. Paul said they must be hungry. During the show we found out why. they were part of the pig races. The animal handler let them run from one pen to the other with a volunteer ringing a bell at the far pen (where the food was, obviously). This is Oreo, the pig we were routing for during the race.

They also have tractor hay rides through the park.

After the hay ride, we went to pick out our pumpkins. W got one for Sophie and one for MIC.

Star Wars Friends

I found out that Pottery Barn Kids was having a special promotional event with several Star Wars characters at the store. Since Paul is a huge Star Wars geek, we took Sophie to get her picture made with them. She was the youngest child there but we had a great time. It was so funny to watch the Storm Troopers get a little gaa gaa over a baby. Sophie wore her "Daddy's Little Princess" Leia onesie. Of course, since we were there anyway, I did a little shopping. I got Sophie a pink elephant backpack and lunchbox for the days we go to preschool. I also found a panda book for MIC and a Halloween one for Sophie.

Sophie's Princess Leia shirt.

Tyler Rose Gardens

It was a great day for the gardens, not too cold or too hot, and just a bit windy. We didn't get to see all the roses because I stayed on the paved paths and didn't go down the grassy aisles. You could tell it was the end of the season, several bushes were drying out. Sophie really enjoyed the fountain that they had, but then she loves bath time.

Tyler Rose Museum

I decided that I wanted to start a tradition with Sophie to go to the Rose Festival each year. Unfortunately, I called to find out when it was the day after it ended. But we still went to Tyler to see the Rose Gardens and the museum. It was a quick trip just for the afternoon, but we had a nice time. The museum had telephones with recorded messages explaining the exhibits. I let Sophie listen to a couple.

The 1994 Rose Queen carried a scepter that had an elephant head on it. I couldn't get a good shot of her dress, but maybe one year it will be on display.

After the museum, we went out to the Gardens. We had to ride in the old "elevator". I use the word "elevator" loosely. It made me very nervous, so we didn't come back in it, we walked all the way around the building instead.

Playdate with Knox

Mommy had to run errand so she let me stay with Ms. Suzanne and Knox for about an hour. We had lots of fun. Knox showed me his Halloween duckies and then spelled his name with tinkertoys.

Talking to Maw Susan

The Firemen Visit

Mommy had the firemen come out with their big red truck to show all the kids. Ms. Gail took our picture and I wore my red outfit so I would match.

My French Outfit

I found this cute yellow outfit at the consignment sale. It has a little beret with it, so Paul called it the French outfit.

Don't I look really tall!

First Boo Boo

Sophie got her first boo boo and it was all my fault. I had the packing tape out while she was laying on the bed. She kicked out her foot and hit it and got a little scrap. She cried, but it really wasn't that bad. You couldn't even see the scrap at first. We washed it and put the band aid on. Paul made me go buy cute cartoon band aids when he saw all I had were these plain brown ones. we are now prepared for our next boo boo.

Baby Gear

On my other blog there is a post about baby gear (you can see it here). After I did that one, I thought of some other items that I love having for Sophie, so I decided to add those here. Below is my list of must-haves:

• Two lingerie bags for laundry, one for the socks because baby socks are tiny and easy to lose; and one for bibs that have Velcro this way they don't snag on her other clothes.


• I have separate bibs I use for food instead of bottles. One of my classes had each child decorate a plain bib with fabric paint (they squirted a few different colors, then had the kids fold the bib in half to create the design). I have about 15 of these and because they are bright colors (orange, green, yellow, purple) and abstract designs, I don't mind that they get messy from the peas, carrots and blueberry. See picture below, can't even tell that there are sweet potatoes on it.

• I use a round 2-tiered bottle dryer rack thing. I like it because it is small enough to fit inside one of the sinks. I am pretty particular about the clutter on my counters, so having the bottle dryer out all the time was driving me crazy. I have enough bottles to wash them once a day (usually in the evening). Then I leave them in the sink on the rack to dry. After I take them off the rack (either before bed or in the morning), the rack goes in the cabinet under the sink.



• I buy plastic baskets at the dollar store all the time. I use them everywhere, it's my own personal clutter-buster. Sophie's closet has a bunch that I keep clothes in by type and size. I use one to keep the bath stuff in that way we can carry to the kitchen if we bathe her over the sink. I also keep her bottles in one in the cabinet, with a separate one for feeding bowls and spoons.


• Books, books, and more books. I am a book freak. I have 4 5-shelf bookcases in our home office that are mostly full. I've only recently started purging books (mainly paperbacks). In addition to those, Sophie's room has probably 150-200 (complete guess on part). And for the record, there are 26 boxes put away for MIC and each of those has at least 2 books, some more. I also have a book journal that I found. It has places to write the books you read to your child with title, author, date read, by whom, and any comments. i took this with me to the hospital so I could record the very first story we ever read.
  
• Another item I buy up when I find them cheap are step stools, the little kid kind. Being only 5 foot and a quarter of an inch, it can be hard to reach certain places. Every closet has a step stool so I can reach the top hanging rod as well as the shelf. Keeping the step stool in the closet ensures that I actually utilize those top areas. In Sophie's closet, I keep all the extra diapers, wipes, and such on the top shelf. I also use the top rod for the next size of clothes, but I can easily reach them to try them on to see if we can fit them. And let's face it, Sophie's probably going to be short (her Daddy's only 5 foot 7), so we might as well have plenty of step stools for her too.


• And last, but not least...Sophie has several of those baby photo books. The kind made of vinyl and cloth that babies can chew on. I love photos and scrapbooks, so of course she had to have her own baby-friendly versions.

Little Rose Jumper

More pictures of Sophie in an outfit that is probably too small. Paul thought is was supposed to be capris, but it is really pants. I love to find clothes that have roses on them for her.

Little Miracle

Sophie is growing out of some of her clothes. We are finally getting into the 3-6 month size. I wanted to be sure I had pictures in the cute ones so here are some pictures of the little kitty dress that says "Little Miracle" on the collar.

New Red Table

Here is Sophie with Bill Miller. He was the wonderful gentleman who made the table we got at the Fall Fest. We wore red specifically so we could get her picture with the table, looks like Mr. Miller had the same idea.